The Fire Department has placed information for residents to review online. The information may be found here https://www.lebanonmefire.org/Need_for_New_Truck.html I encourage residents to look at the information to gain an understanding.
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I am against another new fire truck. We just bought them one and this is a small town. Why do we need so many trucks, looking at the list of neighboring towns provided, they have less and they are in compliance.
This is a bad time for everyone. I hope the budget committee and selectmen thing about us citizens and what we can afford. We wont need fire trucks if we don’t have houses because they foreclose on them. If they just fixed this one, wait a little bit until the economy gets better and people get jobs back – people can barely afford the basics now
I have heard that the final cost for the fire truck is about $400,000 – is this truck for Lebanon or FDNY. We just bought another new fire truck for $200,000, why in gods green earth is this double?? This is a very tough time on people losing houses because they can’t pay taxes, why are my taxes going to increase for a fire truck that the chairman of the fire department committee said “NO, we really don’t need this truck this year”?
ENOUGH SPENDING IS ENOUGH SPENDING. We already have one of the most expensive volunteer fire departments around and they keep saying their calls are decreasing every year. WHY WHY WHY?
I have to agree with you Confused. It is in outrage. I think the good ol’ boys think the citizens of Lebanon are their personal cash cow their to be milked whenever they WANT something. We need to get the word out to EVERYONE to vote NO NEW FIRE TRUDK in June.
Also, I understand when people vote on an absentee ballot they really don’t know what they are voting for. Someone told me that and not sure how true it is. So we need to encourage people to physically go and vote in June.
I did a typo sorry, TRUDK “TRUCK” sorry
Wow, what a lacking powerpoint presentation.
There is NO factual data to back up the NEED.
Trucks are rated for 25+ years so they should play this smart and put some money into a trust fund this year and some over the next 3-4 and then purchase the truck.
There is no mention of any attempt at a grant for this truck, there is no mention of getting a newer used truck. We just spent 13k on repairs in the past couple years and now we are just going to get a new one? Didn’t the repairs fix the issues so it can be in service a few more years? I just replaced a few parts on my tahoe (water pump, fuel pump etc.) and I’m not going to get rid of it this coming year because repairs were costly last year.
NFPA mandates a lot BUT REMEMBER, these trucks are grandfathered in and don’t need to meet the new ridiculous “fluff” standards. Safety for the firefighters is and should be a concern BUT has our truck come close to rolling over? Is the small amount of heat in the cab causing hypothermia? Be smart.
If the cost is going up greatly in 2013 has there been any data thrown to the public on what the impact would be on the tax rate if we split it into the next 3 years? Has there been ANY study on the tax rate increases? Is anyone interested in starting a capital improvement plan? What is with this town? A lot of people moved here for low taxes and less services. Now if we want to move towards low taxes and more services we have to play it smart and it doesn’t look like the current staff is capable.
4 openings on the budget committee this year, anyone know who’s in the lineup?
Why volunteer for the budget committee unless you have a husband on the fire department, a mom as the tax collector, a member of the ladies auxiliary, transfer station worker, husband of the town clerk and so on……
Why join a group if you can’t join them in trying to forward their own needs? Have you seen the committee?? Look at last years videos, they are hilarious!
Chris, I couldnt agree more. Why when people are losing their homes at record numbers are we buying a truck that the fire department says “they dont really need”.
Set aside enough money to buy a used or demo. If the money they just spent buying the most expensive part of the truck, the pump, will make the truck last 5 years, put aside $30,000 and you can find a lot of good demo trucks on line for 150. They have more trucks then any town. When you look at their site, they are deceiving us because they dont put they have 2 utilities and a forestry. Didn’t they tell us they needed the squad truck to haul people around? Everytime I hear them toned they are calling several times just to get one or two people. SO why a cab for 6 people. That 2 times a year that a fire call might fall on a Tuesday night when all 15 of them are at the station, the trucks they currently have fit E2 = 2, E1= 6, E5 = 2, E6 = 2, Squad 1 =7 and Squad 2 = 2. Thats 21 seats available, so they could even stop and get some hitch hikers who are looking for a ride. I understand they want the big “custom” truck so we can go to Sanford and Rochester as I was told when I voted, but, I live in Lebanon and don’t care what Sanford or Rochester wants. I understand mutual aid, but if Sanford calls Lebanon and Alfred, I am sure they still provide mutual aid to Shapleigh, Acton, North Berwick and so on.
The fact of the matter is that our fire department said they don’t need the truck, we CANT AFFORD the truck and we know they dont need the truck this year. Why not go for a more practical truck? Didn;t we just buy a “top quality pumper” for $200,000. Now that we gave them that, now they double it and expect a blank check.
I hope the selectmen and budget committee doesnt fall for this. If the budget committee is to do whats best for the citizens (nots what is best for relatives), then they should vote it down. $400,000 is too much.
If you look at these websites for used and demo trucks, you can see the same truck the fd wants to get rid of being sold for $30,000. What are they going to do with this money? Some slush fund? This should be decided now, if this foolish truck is approved, which EVERYONE i have talked to is against it, then the money should go to the taxes for relief. It shouldn;t go to buying more tools. They have one of the highest budgets for the small department they are. Look at their calls, most are self-generated and a lot doesnt even require a truck to respond.
We havent heard from DUH lately, he is going to tell us the new fire truck they bought isn’t in compliance with NFPA. Then when asked why, he mentions that it doesn’t have chevron striping which is a couple hundred dollars. First, NFPA only requires it on brand new trucks being built now, second, not all NFPA requirements are mandatory if so we would have fire trucks leaving the station a lot faster then they do now. 3rd – he was caught in multiple lies last time and made it clear that he has an interest in this truck. I don’t understand why we need a new truck and this power point made me even more sure WE DONT.
NFPA are just guidelines. That’s all, nothing more.
I was curious about the budget committee because there are 4 spots open. Might be a good time for clearing house…
whats really hilarious ? residents complaining about their tax bills rising EVERY year , wasteful spending , job creation for family and friends , backdoor deals ,etc.. being a voter for the last twenty plus years i’ve yet to see Assuming or chris on the ballot for the budget committee.maybe i’m mistaken.every year residents complain who’s on the budget committee but never bother to put their name on the ballot to try to change the way we spend money.with this said nomination papers are at the town hall so instead of BITCHING get involved !!!
wow, chris, not sure why you are so upset. I simply wrote some factual data about the fire truck not being necessary. I wasn’t complaining about taxes. If I had the time to be more involved I would but with a young family and a full time job and a decent commute everyday it’s tough. I asked who was going to be running for the budget committee because it looked like there were 4 openings and I was interested. Do you know who’s running? Are you running again?
There is no need to get upset with what I wrote, please re-read, there was nothing negative towards the committee coming from me…
maybe i should apoligize but after seeing the waste that occurs in this town and being on the budget committee pointing this out to residents every year you wonder why taxpayers don’t see the BIG picture.example,selectmen added $200,000 to road budget.everyone knows this money will be wasted paving over unfit roads to begin with.with this money the town could buy a fire truck and have something to show for their money in five years instead of the road paved a wasboard in two years as we see thats how we do things.i am not saying we do or don’t need a new truck but stop wasting the money we do spend.i hope you understand my thought.although everyone thinks everyone on the budget committee has an agenda some just want to stop the wasteful spending.watch the meetings and see.my seat is up this year and i may run again to keep trying to better this town and help the residents by keeping taxes low.
I would agree with the selectmen and put the money into the roads I travel everyday and make sure they are done right. The fd said they dont need the truck. So, yes in 5 years when it has now hit the 20 call mark and has 50 miles on it, it will still look pretty and we will have just paid $400,000 for it. Put the money in the roads where we travel and do them right. Elect a new road commissioner and give him the tools and money to start fixing our cluster —- roads. I dont think everyone feels that everyone has an agenda, but its obvious from watching, some people rubber stamp some of the budgets and scrutinize others. EVERY BUDGET should be scrutinized fairly and thoroughly.
Didn’t the budget committee just “review” the fire department budget. They reviewed about $510,000 worth of expenditures in 45 minutes? Wow, way to really dive in!!
a fact for the fact checker.the fire department budget we reviewed was for $110,815.00 not $510,o00.the new fire truck article hasn’t been brought up yet.
what would your response be if the one ton brigade gets voted back in?is $1.1+ million enough to fix our cluster — roads again this year or just make more pocket money for a select few?spending over one million a year on our roads for the last ten years plus have our roads really any better?
chris do you know how many people have submitted for the budget committee?
papers aren’t available until the 15th.
Chris,
I may be mistaken, but the video they discuss it and after the 1/2 hour discussion on the 110,000 budget, the fire chief talks about the prices and terms.
I am not sure if you were there that night, but its on the video
I hope you re-run chris g and i hope more honest hard working people run, and no one with family or agendas!
yes i was there .at the end of the meeting chief woods said the price was about $400,000 and i believe five year lease for about $80,000 per year.not really a discussion that lasted about two minutes on the truck.residents need to remember some departments (rescue,fire,and a couple other)give a detailed budget.some like rescue and fire is like five or more pages with everything laid out.this is why these budgets are easier to go over.the road budget,which is more than ALL budgets combined,consisted of ONE page with no detail of future repairs to the roads??!!
One page with NO detailed plan for the future? How stupid do they think us citizens really are?
Good lord, I guess the road commissioners wife needs a new hair due every week!!! What’s wrong with that picture?????
well, we can hope that we get a new road commissioner who will do our town the best possible way!
Chris, make sure your there to get papers!! Or are you secretly related to a town office worker>?
no actually i’m in cahoots with our selectmen!!!!don’t tell anyone though! you know me no relatives no agendas.o.k. gotta go have brunch with the good old boys!!!SSHHHHHH don’t tell!!
LMAO chris…………….If the residents of this town only knew half of what WE know about what is going on here in town. We can talk until we are blue in the face but there will always be rumors and cover ups and back room deals until WE the people do something about it…..
sorry chris, I would have invited you to breakfast with my family, but my kids were wound so you would probably be happy you didn’t go. Maybe we can do brunch some other time
after attending past selectmen meetings and listening to some of the screaming from some elected officials i’m sure i could handle a wound up kid.both are actually pretty funny.kids you can walk away from,with adults you see their true colors when you expose the truth and let others see their lying ways.
I had the chance to see Jason during this past large storm when he was going to door checking on people. He listened to my concerns and I learned a lot about potential state cuts to funding and stuff. Its scary. I wish we could wait on this, its kinda like they are pushing a new truck down our throats when they said we dont need it. I am all for public safety, but this is going to be a hard year. My neighbor is on the town foreclosure list.
Hey, where is my invite to brunch lmao????